01 The Louvre and the Mona Lisa
5 compared from €50 typically 2h 4.09 average
Thirty-five thousand works, fifteen kilometres of galleries and a painting behind glass with four hundred people in front of it. From €50 for a two-hour highlights tour with reserved access, €91 for a semi-private group of six. The plain entry ticket is cheaper and the reviews are much worse, which is the clearest argument for a guide in this city. Book the first slot at nine or the late Friday opening, and go to the Denon wing last, not first.
02 Musée d'Orsay, the Orangerie and the Impressionists
11 compared from €20 typically 2h 4.31 average
The best-rated ticket in Paris is a semi-private Orsay tour capped at six people, and entry on its own starts at €20 with a €33 median. A converted railway station holding the largest Impressionist collection anywhere, small enough to see properly in two hours, which is precisely what the Louvre is not. The Orangerie ten minutes away holds Monet's water lilies in two oval rooms and is the quietest major museum in the city.
03 Versailles, the gardens and the Trianon
14 compared from €58 typically 6h 4.48 average
From €58 for palace entry with garden access, €121 for the guided days that include the Trianon and Marie-Antoinette's hamlet. The versions that rate highest are the bike tours: the estate is two thousand acres and the walk from the palace to the hamlet is longer than anyone expects. Closed Mondays. The musical fountain shows run at weekends from April to October and are ticketed separately.
04 The Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and Notre-Dame
11 compared from €32 typically 2h 4.43 average
From €32, median €66. The Eiffel Tower splits into three purchases: the stairs to the second floor, the lift, and the summit, and the climbing tours rate higher than the lift tickets because the queue is shorter and the guide fills the climb. Notre-Dame is free to enter since the reopening and a paid ticket buys scheduled access without the line. Sainte-Chapelle is fifteen minutes and the best stained glass in Europe.
05 Giverny, the Loire and the family attractions
8 compared from €12 typically 5h15 3.63 average
Filed as tickets, sold as days out. From €12 for the small museums and wildlife parks to €54 and above for Giverny, the Loire châteaux and Disneyland. Giverny is open April to November only and the half-day trips are the cheapest way to reach it. The Loire castles run thirteen hours from Paris and rate lower than the same castles booked out of Tours, which is the honest reading.
